Gil Reyes (born 1952) is an American

fitness trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for apparently healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, p ...

who spent seventeen years as the strength and conditioning trainer for retired tennis player

Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men to ach ...

, from 1989 until Agassi's retirement in 2006. He was also considered one of Agassi's closest friends and confidants.

Trainer and friend

Gil Reyes was the strength and conditioning coach for the basketball program at the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

before meeting Agassi in 1989. Reyes was their strength coach when they won the 1990

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

championships. After Agassi lost in the fourth round of the 1998 US Open, he and Reyes recommitted to the training regimen they had established. Soon after returning to Las Vegas, Reyes asked Agassi for the first time to run up and down a 320-yard hill that Reyes calls "Magic Mountain". The story has become an oft-repeated story of Agassi's commitment and Reyes's motivation. This retooled training regime entailed two hours of court practice, followed by two hours of weight training and then to "Magic Mountain" for a series of sprints. It is believed that Agassi's late career revival would not have been possible without this training regime. Agassi himself said in 2005, at the age of 35, "Gil is the reason why I've won more Slams after the age of 29 than I did before. He's the reason why I'm still out there playing this sport at a time in my life when I can really understand and appreciate it." Reyes's approach transformed Agassi into a well-conditioned strong athlete. When they first began working together Agassi could bench press 135 pounds. Fourteen years later in 2003, he was benchpressing 350 lbs. Reyes described his job as being "to get gassito be as good to himself as he is to others." The relationship between Reyes and Agassi was so close that Reyes was sometimes called "the core" of Agassi's team of advisors, friends and family. Reyes's contributions to Agassi's success were often overlooked in favor of the contributions of coaches like

Brad Gilbert Brad Gilbert (born August 9, 1961) is a former professional tennis player and an American tennis coach. During his career, he won 20 singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1990, and a career-high doubles rank ...

. In 2001, Agassi named his child Jaden Gil Agassi after his trainer and friend.

After Agassi

Gil Reyes currently runs the Gil Reyes Fitness Center in Las Vegas. Gil Reyes and

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

have a contract under which he helps train young athletes, such as

Fernando Verdasco Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spanish professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7, achieved in April 2009. His best performance in a Grand Slam was making the semifinals of the 2009 ...

Sorana Cîrstea Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea (; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. In singles, she achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 on 12 August 2013. In doubles, her career-high ranking is No. 35, which she reached on 9 March ...

Sania Mirza Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles in ...

and

Sam Querrey Samuel Austin Querrey (; born October 7, 1987) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known for his powerful serve ...

; the program is officially called the Adidas Player Development program. The training employed by Reyes consists of the same combination used for Andre Agassi- a combination of court practice, weight training and runs up "Magic Mountain". Gil Reyes was credited by

for his improved fitness and career-best run to the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

semifinals in January 2009.Verdasco fit to join inner sanctum
/ref> He is currently working with Eugenie Bouchard since October 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reyes, Gil 1952 births American exercise instructors American strength and conditioning coaches Living people Sportspeople from Las Vegas UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball coaches Place of birth missing (living people)